UK social media ban: an end to brain rot and doomscrolling?
6/16/202631 min
The government has announced a ban on some social media platforms for under-16s. It’s a move that echoes a similar ban introduced by the Australian government, which came into effect in December. So what are teens actually looking at on social media? And will a ban help?
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Guest: Mark Sellman, technology correspondent, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producers: Micaela Arneson, Harry Bligh.
We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com
Read more: Doomscrolling 708 videos a day: how TikTok turned our teens into addicts
Further listening: How infinite scrolling damages our brains - The Saturday Story
Clips: The Times, Times Radio, Revealing Reality, BBC News, Sky News.
Photo: Getty Images.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsManveen Rana· Host0:00
[background music] From The Times and The Sunday Times, this is The Story by Manveen Rana. For Keir Starmer, after a bruising series of resignations last week and with a by-election in Makerfield, which could yet decide his fate in Number Ten looming on Thursday, it's hard not to think about your legacy. And on Monday morning, the Prime Minister made a bold new announcement Today is a big moment for our country.
Keir Starmer· Soundbite0:34
This is a big step, real change for our children and our future because today I can announce that the government will ban access to social media for all children under the age of sixteen.
Manveen Rana· Host0:52
[clapping] Unusually, this was a policy that even the opposition, certainly the Conservatives, could get behind It's really important to be clear from the outset that this won't be perfect.
Speaker 3· Soundbite1:07
There are alcohol bans, there are cigarette bans. Young people do get round them. But what this is going to achieve is a cultural shift to say that social media is not safe for young people.
Manveen Rana· Host1:17
But what about teenagers themselves? How do they feel about it?
Speaker 4· Soundbite1:23
Obviously angry 'cause I'm obviously addicted to it, but you just gotta get on with it.